Training plans are designed to prepare you to take on challenges. But what do you do after you’ve completed that challenge? Celebrate and rest, obviously, but is that it? Should you just let all that hard earned fitness slip away or should you try to hang on to it? After completing a tough event, it’s likely you will be both physically and mentally exhausted, even if you feel euphoric and invincible. Your first job is to do an inventory of how you feel, both physically and mentally. Give yourself a couple of days to calm down and reflect before signing up to your next challenge. If you do any swimming, keep it short and unstructured – some fun, wild swimming dips would be ideal.
Depending on how you feel, allow yourself up to two weeks before returning to any structured training. Swimming is a funny sport and you lose speed, endurance and feel for the water very quickly if you don’t swim but you also need to allow time for recovery to avoid injury or burnout.
It’s a difficult balance to achieve and everyone is different so trust your instincts but don’t ignore friends or your coach if they signal they think you’re doing too much too soon.